Lily McNair is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

academic administrator who served as the president of

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

, a historically black university in

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...

, from 2018 to 2021.

Biography

Early life and education

McNair is from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She earned a bachelor's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, graduating in 1979. She then earned her Master's and doctoral degrees from

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. Her thesis examined alcohol consumption among female college students. She initially worked as a psychologist in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

Academic career

After graduating from

, McNair first served as a professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz before joining the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

as an Associate Professor of Psychology in 1992. She was the first African-American woman in the Department of Psychology to become a tenured professor and became associate director of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Training program. Her research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, and focused on community interventions targeting substance abuse in African-American Youth. She was co-editor of five editions of ''Women: Images and Realities''. McNair joined Spelman College in 2004, working as Associate Provost of Research. She worked with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

on a Women in Science and Engineering program that sought to increase the number of minority students in science and technology. She also worked with the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

and the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

to ensure Spelman College became the leading institution for women of African descent. In 2011 McNair joined

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. While at

, she increased the diversity of faculty hired by 116%. She established the annual Black History Month scholar symposium. She is a Trustee of Integration Charter Schools. McNair was appointed as the eighth President of

in July 2018. She later took medical leave in January 2020, and it was announced on March 26, 2021, that she would not be returning to the university. Dr. McNair was president from July 2018 to June 30, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNair, Lily 20th-century American psychologists Spelman College faculty Wagner College people Tuskegee University faculty African-American psychologists Stony Brook University alumni Princeton University alumni American women psychologists Living people 21st-century American psychologists Year of birth missing (living people)